The Longest Night

The rhythm of my days is not something that I've ever had to spend a lot of time thinking about, except to admire the beauty of its simplicity. Wake up, make banana bread, feed Grandpa Mary. Keep him busy til lunch (bananas with smashed peanuts and honey between two chunks of bread) and spend time with Kaylan and Thersha. Read, think, dream until dinner--when I usually try to make something NOT yellow while Grandpa Mary sneaks bites of banana under the table. Clean up, sweeping my broom across the floor while my mind sweeps a dance across the constellations, the rainy jungle, the depths of fathomless waters I just read about in the library. My amusement is watching Thestral haul a banana into the greenhouse to her lady corner for her own dinner, I suppose. I press the night night juice into Grandpa Mary's hand and make sure he downs every last drop; sometimes, I watch him fall asleep. In repose, I can't see the crazy old man who drives me up a banana tree with his antics...I strain instead to see the man he claims he once was. The man whose features I lightly mirror, the man who holds pearls of truth about my parents somewhere in the labrynth of his mind. The man whose love I hold like a fledgling creature in my hands, shielding it and counting it as the most precious thing I possess.
 
And then, I pick up all the peels from the bananas that the voracious bastard snuck in throughout the day. Sigh.
 
Most people would kill for a life this serene and safe, surrounded by the love of family and the best friends and color and cute whiskered creatures--with access to the kind of library not found this side of the continent. Which is why I feel slightly guilty for the bounding of my heart whenever I think about the events of last night...I've never felt curiosity, life, THIRST like this for more information.
 
But I'm getting ahead of myself; if I let my bounding heart smother my meticulous brain, let's face it--no one is going to help me correct it. I love my Kaylan and Thersha, but accurate record keeping is a strength only Thestral and I possess. They bring other talents to the table.
 
So, a faithful synopsis of what happened last night.
 
I awoke in the dark, knowing as I always do that something was amiss with Grandpa Mary. Doing my best not to disrupt my daintily snoring friend Thursha, I tiptoed out to check on him--only to stop dead in my tracks. The familiarity of the room was discordant, a sour note hanging in the air--what was it? The soft sound of Kaylan "whispering" with Thestral drifted in from the other room, but that wasn't it...I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and scanned the room--OH, there??? Grandpa Mary's dragon had metamorphosed into the fireplace itself, shimmering like true gold in sunlight that wasn't there. The entire fireplace--the ENTIRE fireplace--was shifted to the side?? I strode up to the dragon and stretched out my hand, expecting cool metal under my fingertips, but finding instead a wooden texture. I'm pretty sure this is where I began talking to myself, but I'll skip that part.
 
A quick check in Grandpa Mary's room confirmed my worst fears; the bed was empty. Squaring my shoulders and sucking in a deep breath, I hurried through the fireplace (yes, I realize how crazy that sounds).
 
What I found in the chamber beyond is still surreal to me.
 
The "ceiling," if you can even call it that, was a living thing. Stars twinkled as constellations in a night-black sky; the moons were there, too. Another fireplace (the redundancy, I tell you) burned at the other end of the room. I realized, with a sudden jolt, that additionally I was NOT alone in this wondrous secret room. A dark robed, well-dress older man smiled strangely...no, wait, so familiarly at me...it was GRANDPA MARY. He had his long beard tied neatly in front of him and his robes breathed as the ceiling did, moving with the constellations!!
 
Long story short, he was lucid. He was L-U-C-I-D. I had so many things to ask him, so many things I wanted to say to him and discuss with him but I got almost nothing. He handed me a book of spells, I blinked, and he had deposited (by the way, MAGICALLY deposited) me outdoors with a bunch of other, less confused people my age. We had to go through a trial?? A woman in red robes ran the whole thing. To be honest, I'm still reeling from everything and don't even remember her name. Just that she follows the red moon, so she works to restore balance to the world when one force or another is ready to tip it. I can't quite tell because ALL the emotions are in me, but I think I'm a little mad at Lucid Grandpa Mary for not preparing me like the others were evidently prepared.
 
My trial wasn't so bad; thankfully, reading is my favorite so I read the runes on the wall to give myself a spell to get out. A SPELL. I'm magic now. Right? That's how you say it? "Hello, my name is Manon and I'm magic." Yep, sounds about right I think. I'll try to find a book on the phraseology associated with the proper ways to refer to yourself when you have the magic in you. Maybe, just maybe, they'll also tell me what to do with my hands when I cast a spell because apparently, you don't have to keep them up the whole time--at least, when using Detect Magic you don't. Fascinating. Glad Kaylan didn't catch me doing that, friend or not she'd never let me live it down.
 
Anyway, I got out of the room first!! Even though everyone else seemed WAY more prepared. I guess at least Grandpa Mary gave me that spellbook, huh? Seems like the least he could do. The red robed lady handed me a scroll, told me NOT to open it *note to self, hide it forever from Grandpa Mary*, and told me to find Xavier in Solanthus for more training. Guess I'll have to pack Grandpa Mary up and head that way. I walked back outside, blinked, and was back in that room through the fireplace at home with Grandpa Mary.
 
I looked down, noticing for the first time that I was wearing gray robes. Stuffing the scroll in my pocket hastily, I warily looked at Grandpa Mary...he said lovely things, clear things. Told me my parents would be proud of me, and that I needed to be better than he was. I hope he couldn't see that I wasted the little time I've ever had with him letting a film of tears slip into my eyes, blurring him like I was seeing him through a rainy window. Until I die, I will not ever forget what his face looked like before I lost it in my swimming vision--eyes so deeply comforting with a twinkle of mirth and a gleam of pride, smile warm and gentle. Looking into them, I felt as though I were 3 years old and 300 years old all at once. I BELIEVED for that space of time, believed in his history as a great archmage and was filled with hope and pride. Filled with ideas for more discussions that every fiber of my singing body hungered for regarding my parents, how to learn what I need to know to survive whatever may come, and how to keep him safe and with me like this.
 
But alas, it was not to be.
 
I blinked again (if anything like this ever happens to me again, I'm NOT blinking) and it was morning. I was back in my room.
 
I whipped off the blankets and dashed into the dining room--the fireplace was back in its rightful place! But the dragon still looked like molten gold. I sounded the alarm as I made to turn and run to Grandpa Mary's room, and a peculiar number of things happened all at once.
 
A slightly disheveled Kaylan appeared, yelling "I've got my fancy stick," with Thestral in tow; Thersha blinked sleepily and yawned as she dragged herself out of our room, and an authoritative knock came at the door.
 
I'm so very good with multiple things happening at once.
 
Frazzled, I answered the door and ushered in a General of the Guard who started talking about needing to see my Grandpa Mary. It was pretty hard to concentrate when the low buzz of urgency in my brain was telling me I needed to check on him, so I just agreed quickly and babbled a little bit to the others about what happened the night before as I walked over and opened Grandpa's Mary's bedroom door...and found myself freezing for what felt like the billionth time in absolute shock.
 
A terrifying tableau was laid before us...Grandpa Mary, sound asleep, with a horrifyingly sinister woman stroking his head. She was as beautiful as an ancient queen with the odd contrast of a perpetually youthful face. Her eyes were anything but young as she looked up at our arrival, though.
 
It felt like we all held our breath as she mercifully walked away from Grandpa Mary, saying something about his wasted brain that made my heart jump to my throat in choked disappointment. Then, she dumped the LAST of his night night juice--like bitch, come on now--and seemed to take a weird interest in Kaylan and Madlyn's tattoos. She said something about two being "awoken?" Frankly, she was on my list the minute she touched Grandpa Mary, let alone dumping his very rare ingredient night night juice. Clearly, everyone else felt the same way as they readied themselves for a blistering attack--and she vanished.
 
I'm still trying to catch up from the outpouring of information that followed her disappearance. Kaylan had dreams, Madlyn is suspicious and bossy, and Thersha is quiet as per usual. When I've processed what they said, I'll write more, dear journal.
 
For now, we have left the Keep and, against my WAY better judgment, Grandpa Mary...he is so stubborn, sometimes. Would NOT come with us to get the ingredients for his night night juice. We asked him to barricade the door though, and he managed it somehow--and we left Thestral with him! She is a resourceful little creature, thankfully.
 
Now, for a quick trip and some mental processing. Until next time.
 
Word of the day: psychopathology